“Yeah, neither can I.” I shot him a look before I followed it up with, “Especially not hers.” If Liz wouldn’t listen how many ways this could go bad, then maybe Kyle would. He caught my meaning and nodded his head in agreement.
“Stop,” Liz laughed, understanding my perceived threat. “Time?” She pointed at my shirt.
“Enough to play one more round.” The brothers painting the banquet center were leaving in half an hour, but if I let these two play all morning, Liz would miss her therapy appointment.
“Grace…take me.” She wrinkled her nose at Kyle, as if they were co-conspirators.
“It’s the only way you’re going to get well, Aunt E,” he said to her. “How else are you going to beat me?”
I didn’t want to like this kid, but when he said shit like that, it made me want to take him to therapy myself. If he relapsed, I’d be second in line, after Grizz, to beat it out of him.
“Look who…talk—“ She coughed, reaching for the bottle of water next to her.
“I’m going to go when Dr. Scrub says I can. I don’t want to disappoint Grizz, and Buster scares me.” He dropped his gaze to his lap, the checkerboard between them long forgotten.
“You don’t sound excited.” I tried not to pass judgement, but if he was here to get clean and leave, he had another thing coming.
“I’m not. Did you hear about the place Dr. Scrub found?” he asked me.
“Some, but why don’t you tell us?” I encouraged him to talk.
His eyes searched the room, not really focusing on anything. His hands shook, the tremors obvious, and when he caught me looking, he tucked them under his legs.
“I…” he started and then stopped. Liz reached over and put her hand on his arm, and it gave him the encouragement to try again. “Therapy doesn’t come cheap. I’ve had several opportunities to get clean, and while I start out really well, I relapse quickly. The club shouldn’t waste its money on me. I’m not worth it.”
“How…do you…know?” Liz asked gently.
“Bad shit always finds me, Aunt E. Something stupid happens, and I can’t cope, so I turn back to the drugs. They call to me until I’m too sick to see straight. I don’t want to break, but I’m not strong enough to survive.”
“Do you…want…live?” she asked him, staring at his profile.
“Life would be easier without me.” He shifted on the bed, not bothering to look at her.
“Thought that too.”
I kept quiet. I had nothing meaningful to add, and I didn’t want to sound like an overbearing bastard. My life hadn’t been easy, but I couldn’t relate to Kyle as much as Liz could. I sat in my chair, watching over the two of them.
“Miss out.” She focused on me for a beat before she whispered, “We have…good life.”
I laid the back of my head against the top of the chair. “Did she tell you about her son, kid?” He shook his head, not saying a word. It was as if he knew how important this was going to be and he didn’t want to spoil the moment. I told him a watered-down version of what had happened. “Her sister didn’t give up on her. That’s why she’s here. Grizz saw something in you, and the club won’t give up on you either. If you want help, don’t be afraid to take it.”
“I have nothing to give.”
I watched him, not really sure what I was searching for. He seemed like a decent kid, but I didn’t know him, and he could have been telling me what he thought I wanted to hear. I’d been that way once, minus the drugs, but the Marines had given me a chance, and I made something of myself.
I pulled my phone out and called Count. “Hey, brother, can you come down here for a sec before we head out?” He hung up on me, and I heard his bootspadding down the hallway. They stopped two seconds before he appeared in the doorway.
“You rang?” Brother was a character. He wore a form-fitting t-shirt with a cartoon character on the front. I’d never seen it before. The best part was he wore the gray sweatpants Pretty had teased him about.
“Brother,” I said, waving my hand in his direction. “We’re painting.” I tried to give him a hint without calling him directly out on it.
“Yeah.” It was all he said.
“We’re painting,” I emphasized. The other two tried to hide their chuckles behind their hands, but they failed miserably.
“They might send Kelly with lunch.”
It was all I needed to hear before I cracked up laughing, dropping my hands between my legs, hanging my head low.
